China Exported 23.9 Million Automotive Radiators in 2019

Automobile radiator is one of the most important components within the engine cooling system. The performance of a radiator has a direct influence on heat dissipation, dynamic property, economic efficiency, reliability, and even normal operation and driving safety. Increased production volume and penetration of automobiles across the world lead to growing demand of whole-vehicle manufacturing and aftermarket for automobile radiators.

According to CRI analysis, with economic globalization and fierce competition in the industry, global automobile industry experienced a significant change in the past decades. For automobile radiator manufacturers in China, many opportunities for growth were offered over the last 10 years. One opportunity came from stable growth in automobile component market that stimulated export of automobile radiators in China. Another being the rapid growth in China’s automobile industry, which naturally raises demand for automobile radiators. China’s production volume of automobiles was merely 13.79 million units in 2009 while that in 25.72 reached 29.02 million, with a CAGR of more than 6% over the decade. China has been established as the world’s largest automobile producer and seller for 12 consecutive years from 2009 to 2020. Car ownership in China was only 62.81 million units in late 2009. By the end of 2019, it surged to more than 250 million.
CRI estimates that the production volume of automobile radiators in China exceeded 70 million units in 2020, among which more than 20 million were exported.
According to CRI analysis, in 2019, China exported approximately 23.9 million automotive radiators, with an export value of 557 million U.S. dollars. The main export destinations include the United States, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, etc. With the outbreak of COVID-19 at the beginning of 2020, it has had a certain impact on China’s auto radiator exports. CRI predicts that China’s auto radiator exports will decrease by about 10% from 2019 to the second half of 2021. Will gradually recover.
Competition in China’s market is intense with a large quantity of manufacturers involved and market is composed of numerous small-scale enterprises. High certification requirement on OEM put most manufacturers off this market. Therefore, the majority of automobile radiator manufacturers in China focus in supporting domestic and overseas aftermarkets.
Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, which has had a serious impact on the global economy, CRI predicts that global and Chinese automobile production will decline in 2020-2021. From 2022, global automobile production will gradually recover. However, the global and Chinese car ownership will continue to grow from 2020 to 2025, and the aftersales market will contribute more and more to car radiators. Due to the low price of China-made car radiators, CRI expects that China’s auto radiator exports will still have room for growth in the next few years.

reference: Report on Automobile Radiator Industry in China, 2021-2025